George Jacob Mook was born April 26, 1828, in Oxford, Ohio. During the Civil War he served as a private in the 4th Missouri Cavalry (Confederate). He was captured October 25, 1864, near Fort Scott, Kans., and imprisoned at Gratiot Street Prison and Alton Military Prison, before being sent to the South on exchange. After the war he returned to St. Louis, where he served as vice president and treasurer of Flesh & Mook Painting Company. He died November 2, 1900, in St. Louis.